Russia wants to build helicopter service center in Serbia

Russia wants to build helicopter service center in Serbia

"Our offer to build a service center for helicopters does not refer to military issues only. Various helicopters are needed, including civilian ones," Rogozin told Sputnik.

Russia is also addressed by NATO member states for approvals for their helicopter overhauls.

That is why we would like to have a service center in Serbia which would not have a military purpose only, but rather a general, civilian, he said.

Asked whether it would be possible to form a Russian base in Serbia, Rogozin said: This is not a question for us, but for Serbia.

Rogozin also said on Tuesday that Russia was not looking at attempts at militarization of the Balkans with any optimism.

Commenting on Croatia's campaign to arm itself with ballistic missiles, Rogozin told a joint press conference with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic in Belgrade that Russia endeavored to ensure that the 1990s events in the Balkans never happened again, but they were not indifferent about the security of their Serbian friends.

Rogozin added that he would present the Russian leadership with a detailed report on everything that he had heard about it in Belgrade.

When asked about which weapons might Russia supply Serbia with and whether it included the S-300 system, Rogozin said that Serbia had given a list of what it needed and as there were no restrictions against Serbia, it would be considered seriously.

Protocol signed

Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic and Andrey Arturovich Boytsov, first deputy director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, signed in Belgrade on Tuesday a protocol on establishing a regional maintenance center in Serbia for Russian-made helicopters in service in the region and worldwide.

It is the first document that operationalizes the work on the project, initiated during last October's visit by the prime minister and the government of Serbia to the president and the government of the Russian Federation, the Serbian Defense Ministry said in a statement.